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Health chiefs have offered hope that the rampant spread of the coronavirus is finally being suppressed in Ireland.
The country’s leading medical experts broke the promising news that transmission of the virus had been reduced by more than a third, while the number of reproduction has almost returned to 1.
It was confirmed tonight that, as of today, the seven-day virus incidence rate had plummeted by 36% compared to the previous seven-day period.
But medical director Dr. Tony Holohan cautioned that it is still “the early days” in the battle against the second wave of the killer virus.
He said: “The general situation has improved, but we must remember that these are very early days.
“This improvement will only be sustained if we continue with our effort.
“We must remember that the incidence is increasing in the older age groups, who are particularly vulnerable to this disease.
“The way we can protect them is if we continue to reduce transmission throughout the population.”
Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Desmond Hickey said Ireland’s progress was remarkable compared to the rapidly deteriorating situation across Europe.
He added: “It is paramount that we maintain and continue to reduce the incidence of disease as much as possible in the coming weeks.”
The chairman of NPHET’s Irish Epidemiological Modeling Advisory Group, Professor Philip Nolan, revealed that the reproduction rate is very close to or possibly just below 1, a “significant improvement” compared to recent weeks.
He said: “This is the first time in several weeks that we have been able to report positive indicators of the disease.
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“However, our experience to date shows that this kind of progress is very fragile.
“We must take these positive signals as an indication that our efforts are starting to work, the critical thing now is to keep it up, the virus will look for any opportunity to spread; over the next few weeks let’s make sure we don’t give it that opportunity, by reducing R and the numbers. of cases as low as possible. “
Another 772 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Ireland, while six deaths were also sadly announced.
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